Aerial vehicle control



y 1935- H. H. SEMMES AERIAL VEHICLE CONTROL Filed July 8, 1930 2Sheets-Sheet l R- \L! R v is U m 9 r HQ y 1935' H. H. SEMMES AERIALVEHICLE CONTROL Filed July 8, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 2,1935 V UNITED STATE Amman viinrctu Contact.

' Harry H..Se1nmes,

-- to Bendix Aviation Ind, a corporation of Chevy Chase; Md.,-

Corporation, South ware assignor Bend,

Application July a, me, No. 400,498

'iciaims.

This invention relates to aerial vehicles and w more particularly tosteering and arresting means therefor. The invention is shown asapplied'to a seaplane and is particularly advantageous when appliedthereto although it, is not limited thereto. The, seaplanes and flyingboats now in common use have the, inherent disadvantage that they aredifllcult to maneuver while on thesurface of the water. Heretofore, nomechanism has been provided which will allow readysteering and at thesame time retardation of the plane.

An object of the present'invention isto generally improve the steeringof aerial vehicles.

Another object is to provide brakes cooperating with the rudder forvsteering and retardation..

A further object is to provide novel means for actuating the steeringmeans in unison.

with these and other objects in view, which maybe incident'to myimprovements, the invention consists in the parts and combination to behereinafter set forth and claimed, with the understanding that theseveral necessary elements comprising my inventionjmay be varied inconstruction, proportions and arrangement without departing from thespirit and scope of the appended claims. I

In accordance with the present invention there is provided means adaptedto coact directly in unison with the rudder of an airship having awatersustaining member for greatly facilitating the steering ofaseaplane on the surface of the water together with retarding the speedof the plane with respect to the water. It is to be understood, ofcourse, that this invention is applicable to both the seaplane andflying boat types of airships. Inorder to make my invention more clearlyunderstood, I have shown in the accompanying drawings, means forcarrying the same into practical effect'without. limiting theimprovements in their useful applications to the particularconstructions which, for the purpose of explanation. have been madethesubject of illustration.

Figure l is a side elevation of a seaplane in which the improvement isembodied, v

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the cooperating mechanism,

Figure 3 is an enlarged view taken along line 3-4 of Figure 2, t

Figure 4 is a view taken along line H of Figure 3,.

Figure 5 is a cross section view along line 8-4 of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is a view showing the yoke connection for the water brakes, andV 7 and an air rudder shown the pontoons are vgitudimtl members H andI2.

Figure! is a viewtaken along line ure 6. a Y

Referring to Figure 1 there I tional seaplane having the usual elementsof structure including the fuselage I, sustenation surfaces empennage l,propelling mechanism 4, I. Associated with the plane are the twin floatsor pontoons 8, of any suitable structure, preferably of a light weightalloy of low corrodability and high tensile strength, such 1 forexample, as alloy dural. The pontoons I, are preferably of the hollowV-bow type to present good freeboard and a good, cruising bow.v As

equipped with one step a, but, of course, ,it is to be understood thatany 1 number of steps. may be employed.

The pontoon! may be attached to the 1-'-'I of Figis shown a convens Ifuselage of the seaplane directly or, when the invention is applied to abiplane, through the intermediacy of sustaining or lifting surfaces. Asshown the Z0 may comprise the, conventional pontoon struts I, 8 and 9,although it is to be understood that any type of attachment may beemployed to suitably insure against hogging and sagging effects.Interfloat struts may 2 alsobe'used to minimize rwkinz' effects. As willhereinafter appear, in steering a seaplane by the present invention onthe water torsional stresses are set up when the water brake is appliedon one side only of the longitudinal axis of the plane and it istherefore preferable to provide addimnal bracing between the fuselageand the ponns. a 1 When practicing the invention each pontoon, when twinpontoons are employed, is provided 3 with a waterbrake I0. The waterbrake is slidably mounted in a suitable housing formed by .thelongitudinal members Ii and I2 suitably attached to lateral framingmembers or ribs l3, ll, II, and it, within the pontoon i. The members Hand if, as shown in Figure .1, are so constructed within the float so asto take'up or distribute the thrusts incident to the retardingoperation. The member H does not, however, extend the entirelongitudinal distance of the float 45 butis so constructed, as shown inFigure 1, as to receive the bell. crank lever attached to the watenbrake, the purposeof which will more fully hereinafter appear.

The water brake It is capable. of vertical movementin the housing orwell formed by the ion- The element is so adapted ,as to be in aninoperative position and out of contact with the water,'or to be loweredinto the water to present a relatively large con- -tact area and tothereby increase the resistance The device described is adapted tosubserve a to movement of the pontoon through the water. number ofuseful functions especially when ap- Associated with the water brake isis a suitplied to seaplanes. As is known, twin float types ablemechanism for operating the air rudder 5 of planes are more diillcult tomaneuver than the 6 in unison, if desired with the water brakes l0,single hull type and also single screw flying 6 or operating the waterbrakes independently of boats or seaplanes generally turn easier in onehe a r ud e A8 51mm, 8 d l I1 s uitab y direction than in the other dueto the slip stream attached to a rudder rock shaft ll. Positionedeifects. The present invention provides a suppleon the rudder rock shaftII is a crank ll supmentary method of steering the plane on the 10 portng a lov 2|- Sllltable linkage or a cable water which is used in acooperative relationship 10 2| connects the rudder I, as at Imwith theloot with the rudder. It will be appreciated that if pedal I f r operntns he dd r w le th plane one only of the water brakes to is operated tois in flight. engage the water and the rudder is rotated in Loosely munted on the rudder rock shaft is, unison therewith, the plane will turnon that and adjacent'the rudder control is another pedal to as an i 15 1f r actuating both the Water brake! and the Such usage of one of thebrakes and the rudder udde in u ls The 6 mounted sleeve can also beutilized to compensate for the slug- 22a of this p dal is provided withan aperture 23 i h turning in one direction of a single screw p d to n aa i e D 1 0!! the rock ship. Using one of the brakes and the ruddershaft ll. This arrangementperml 01m 6011- in this manner for steeringsets up torsional 20 train! the ru d r m h nism w l the lane is stressesdue to the di'irerent relative speeds of in "flight, and also bysuitably constructing the th pontoons and, to compensate for this, it isp r e 23. allows the cooperative' beratton of preierableto providesuitable additional bracing brake between the pontoons and the fuselage.

25 t rins nd ins h P While v the The present invention also provides forthem 25 of the brakes simultaneously, to efl'ectively re- Connected tothe lower pert of the Pedal I! tard the speed of the plane through thewater by s a l vis i y ti k to i "l '3" merely actuating the lever SI.Actuation of the shaft by suitable l Inch 38 I lever 39 in this instancedoes not affect the steer- The cable 25 is provided with a slipconnection m mechanism gomprlsing t cooperating water so 21 adapted toentr st a i l b P brakes and the rudder in view of t e slip conneconthemnk "a which is etteched to the voter tion :1, which allows the boltsor suitable probrake shaft It slip whnettieh P e in ections 21a on thecranks 20a to slide into the h cable 25 ll P mi ,m groovingll providedin the slip connection.

the M min! e mech- While I have shown and described the pre- 35 therudder h P lerred embodiment of my invention, I wish it to which"!!!"been be understood that I do not confine myseli to The Crank 3 i88111M}! M the the precise details of construction herein set brake shaftII and supports a clevis II. Suitable f rth by way of m m-w as t isapparent that -8 such a! a mum many changes and variations may be madethere- 40 the in, by those skilled in the art without departing brake bya from the spirit of the invention, or exceeding on a bell crank leverSI, suitably attachedto the the scope of the appended clamm water brakeII. A spring 84 forexertim the nec- I claim;

e838" tendon in an M m 1. In an aerial vehicle. a rudder, laterally 45it is applied, is attached to the bell crank and mead brakes operableindependently of rigidly fastened m the hm 1 other. control meansoperable about an axis reby the member m m Imam mote from the rudderaxis and for controlling between the not m m m therudder, other meansoperable aboutadiii'erent rudder min] Mm axis for controlling, thebrakes, and means for to type mechmm when! the m operating said ruddercontrol means independentbe actuated alone in the air or cooperativelywith of the brake control means separate mm g g fig the on me mm foroperating the said brake control means indedently of said rudder'controlmeans, and sepin mm mt'bh mm :r a te means for operating both of saidcontrol is "Provided applying the W means coniointly, said control.means, operable ousiy without cooperatingwith the air rudder mum'opemmmem and both m mean,

A rigid is tuned the being adjacent one another and remote from saidshaft 2! through suitable cranks II. The two rudder and bra I no legs 31of the yoke ll are provided each'with a suitable slip connection "toallow bolts, or any projection "a on the cranks 80, to be freely ofsupporting member" a mo! hm pedal associated witheach supportlns member,a pair fiii st'lffs t fs'iimm*iim M 1mm The yoke 18 connected m a by Wetothe rudder, a second pair of pedalspivoted inlinkage, such as a cablea, and a elevis ILwhich dependently of d fi s nam d pedals.connecarrangement permits the water brakes to b tions from each of saidlast named pedals to one actuated independently of the air rudder I. ofthe brakes, and means operated by actuation Figure 1, shows the waterbrake I. positioned of each of said last named pedals about its pivotsubstantially to the rear of the center as gravity for operating saidrudder connections. 70 oi the plane which is, of course, prelerabletoob- '3. The combination set forth in claim 2 in viate the dangers ofnosing over when the brakes which the first named pedals are ineifeotiveto are applied. Positioning the water brakes so, adds operate thebrakes. the further advantage or causing the ship to seta. Thecombination set forth in claim 2 in 76 tle at the stern n h k sreapplied. which the aerial vehicle is provided with means for operatingboth of said brakes conjointly comprising a hand lever connectedthereto.

5. In an aerial vehicle, a rudder, laterally spaced brakes operableindependently of each other, control means operable about an axis remotefrom the rudder axis for controlling the rudder, other control meansoperable about a different axis for controlling the brakes, means foroperating said rudder control means, separate means for operating saidbrake control means independently, and separate means for operating saidrudder control means and said brake control means conjointly, both ofsaid control means, operating means and both of said separate meansbeing adjacent one another and remote from said rudder and brakes.

6. In an aerial vehicle, a rudder, laterally spaced brakes operableindependently of each other, control means operable about an axis remotefrom the rudder axis for controlling the rudder, other control meansoperable about a different axis for controlling the brakes, foot pedalmeans for operating said rudder control means, separate means foroperating said brake control means independently, and separate footpedal means for operating said rudder control means and said brakecontrol means conjointly both of said control means, said operablemeans, both foot pedal means and separate means being adjacent oneanother and remote from said rudder and brakes.

7. In an aerial vehicle, a rudder, laterally spaced brakes operableindependently of each other, cross shafts for controlling the rudder,additional cross shafts for controlling the brakes, foot pedal means foroperating said rudder cross shafts, a lever for operating said brakecross shafts independently of said rudder cross shafts, and foot pedalsfor operating said rudder cross shafts and said brake cross shaftsconjointly.

. HARRY H. SEMMES.

